Lynn Dean Gregory
Lynn Dean Gregory passed away on Friday, September 15, 2023 at the age of 71. He was living at Arrowhead Gardens in Seattle, WA at the time of his death.
Lynn was born on December 26, 1951 to Gene Elton and Dorothy Loraine Gregory (Barkley) in Renton, WA and was one of 4 children. He lived in the Skyway area near Renton through High School. He attended Skyway Grade School, Dimmitt Junior High School and graduated from Renton High School in 1970. He was a member of DeMolay, a Fraternal Organization and Glee Club while attending school. He also always found work and sometimes worked several jobs at the same time. He had a paper route, did landscaping and worked at a gas station where he picked up skills working on autos.
Lynn was about to be drafted in the military shortly after graduation so he chose to join the Marine Corp and signed up for 4 years so a college education would be paid for and he would be trained for a good job when honorably discharged. While in the Marine Corp, Lynn excelled in his duties, starting out as a Private 1st Class, then Corporal, and for the last 16 months before discharge was the rank of Sergeant. He received multiple awards including the National Defense Service Medal and two Good Conduct Medals. Lynn stated if deployed into a combat zone, he would have done whatever was necessary to keep everyone safe at home, even if it meant sacrificing his own life to do so.
After being discharged from the Marine Corp, Lynn took on various jobs including a baggage handler for an Airline called Northwest Orient. As a fringe benefit, he said that he could fly for free anywhere the airline flew – all he had to do was pay the tax. He joked and said he was thinking about one day flying to the French Riveria for lunch. He also worked as a Surveyor with a Surveying Team and worked for a logging company setting chokers in the forest and driving large trucks.
Lynn then headed to Ellensburg to attend Central Washington College which became Central Washington University while attending. He graduated, received a teaching degree and taught in several school districts for about 15 years. Then he moved on from teaching and worked for Home Depot for about 10 years. It seemed he could do just about anything when it came to home repairs due to the skills he gained from this and other life experiences. The last job he worked before permanently retiring was at the Bremerton Shipyards as a tool specialist.
Lynn loved boating and had as he said the largest trailerable boat you could get for several years. He had a nice singing voice and was in Acapella Choir and a Singing Quartet while in High School and this carried over later in life when he joined a church choir and also an inter church choir. He also did karaoke three times a week in the last few years of his life at different locations, including a Veteran location where he would sing to music while the audience would dance to it. He was good at writing poetry and wrote a poem he called “50 Years” which he dedicated and read to his parents on their 50th anniversary.
While attending CWU, Lynn met Eugenia who was also studying to be a teacher and she became his wife after graduation. They had two children, Kate and Elizabeth. Lynn and Eugenie divorced after several years of marriage. Several years later Lynn married Sharon. He joined her church and became a Deacon of the church and also was a choir member. Sharon also introduced him to a small theater and he was acting in several theater productions – many where each of them had parts. Lynn had done some acting while attending Renton High School also. Lynn and Sharon divorced in 2019 and Lynn was single from that date till his passing.
Lynn is survived by former spouse and mother of his children, Eugenia, former spouse Sharon, sister Cindy Hope, brother Randy Gregory (Francesca), brother Dana Gregory (Celeste), daughter Katherine Wold (Alexander), daughter Elizabeth Gregory and a niece, nephew and several cousins.
Lynn was preceded in death by his mother, Dorothy and father, Gene.
The family extends a warm invitation to join them at the Memorial for Lynn and a Celebration of Life on Friday, October 27, 2023 @ 1:00 PM at Fairwood Community United Methodist Church, 15255 SE Fairwood Blvd., Renton, WA 98058. Reception to follow at same location.
Memorial contributions may be made to Alzheimer’ Association – , American Diabetes Association – diabetes.org or American Heart Association – heart.org.
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